Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hong Kong Happiness Index 2009 香港快樂指數 2009, Lok Sang Ho

Hong Kong Happiness Index 香港快樂指數調查

According to the survey, Hong Kong people in 2009 apparently are happier than they were in the previous year, with the overall happiness index rose to 70.6 in 2009, up from 69.3 in 2008. This is the second year in a row marked by a rise in the Lingnan Happiness Index.

The survey was conducted by CPPS from 9-13 November 2009 via randomized phone calls, and sponsored by the University’s Economics Department Master of Science in International Banking and Finance Programme. The research team successfully interviewed 828 Hong Kong residents aged 21 or above. On a scale of 0 to …

Rod Library Newsletter: Rod Notes, V2n3, November 2009, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Rod Library newsletter: Notes for the Stalled

Contents:

-- Join Us in the Circle
-- Teen Read Week, Hunger Games
-- Congratulations! Winner of the Family Weekend Drawing
-- Pubic Fax Service
-- Lost and Found - We've got it!

Linguistic Ambiguity In Language-Based Jokes, Sarah Seewoester

College of Communication Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (1) identify patterns in joke type, word class, word class progressions, use of morphologic/syllabic mechanisms, and compound word manipulations in the “serious” and “humorous” interpretations of puns, (2) compare results with two previous studies (Attardo et al. 1994b and Bucaria 2004) and delineate discrepancies, and (3) to explore how language pattern(s) in English puns contribute to our theoretical understanding of linguistic interpretation.

From a collection of 6,000 puns published online, 225 were randomly chosen and analyzed for alliterative, phonological, lexical, and syntactic categorizations, as well as for patterns in word class, word class …

Strategic Management Of Three Critical Levels Of Risk, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

The financial crisis that erupted in 2007 revealed a major gap in the management systems of government and business. For the most part, governments focused on revenue growth, productivity, cost control and quality. There were many interrelated factors involved with the failures but two in particular stand out in my mind: a failure to explicitly account for risk when formulating organizational strategies and a failure to monitor and manage the risks that they had identified and assumed. Organizations face many different types of risk but often they can be categorized into three types based upon their predictability, controllability and management. …

Current And Future Food Demand In Western Australia. Module 1 Scoping Study, Andrew Weinert, Robert R. Rouda

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Maintaining and growing our food industries are priorities of the Western Australian Government and its Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA). Understanding our current food consumption levels, imports, exports and production limitations is critical to the formulation of effective agricultural and food polices.

The WA food industries are affected by several factors that include previous domestic policies and market instruments; general lack of scale; geographical isolation; access to suitable land and water; the availability and use of new technology, communication, processing and transport infrastructure that facilitate efficient marketing; sales and administration; social factors; international tariffs and other trade …

November Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

Healing the Past, Protecting the Future. By Alejandro Toledo. Americas Quarterly. July 13, 2009.

National Trends In The United States Of America Physician Assistant Workforce From 1980 To 2007, Xiaoxing Z. He, Ellen Cyran, Mark J. Salling

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The physician assistant (PA) profession is a nationally recognized medical profession in the United States of America (USA). However, relatively little is known regarding national trends of the PA workforce. We examined the 1980-2007 USA Census data to determine the demographic distribution of the PA workforce and PA-to-population relationships. Maps were developed to provide graphical display of the data. All analyses were adjusted for the complex census design and analytical weights provided by the Census Bureau. In 1980 there were about 29,120 PAs, 64% of which were males. By contrast, in 2007 there were approximately 97,721 PAs with more than …

Relevance And Simulation In Metaphor, L. David Ritchie

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent writings have done much to develop and extend Relevance Theory as an account of metaphors and other "loose" language use. However, it is argued in this essay that Relevance Theory still leaves important gaps in its explanation and does not adequately address the "circularity" issue that has been raised. It is proposed that Perceptual Simulation Theory usefully extends Relevance Theory by providing a detailed cognitive mechanism for the "broadening" and "narrowing" specified by Relevance Theory. Extending Relevance Theory to include the cognitive mechanisms posited by Perceptual Simulation Theory also extends the reach of Relevance theory and enhances its ability …

Advocate, November 2009, Vol. [21], No. [3], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: Education Über Alles. (p. 2)

Adjuncting: The Collapse of the Tenure Track. Alison Powell (p. 4)

Health Issues: Rapid HIV Testing Returns to GC on Dec. 3. Collette Sosnowy (p. 5)

Political Analysis: The Militarization of Crowd Control. Justin Rogers-Cooper (p. 6)

Dispatches from the Front: Grading Papers is Hell (But It Doesn’t Have to Be). Talia Argondezzi (p. 8)

Books That Changed the Way We Think: Autonomy! Review of Autonomia: Post-Political Politics, edited by Sylvère Lotringer and Christian Marazzi (MIT Press, 2007). Ashley Dawson (p. 9)

Lessons in Terror at John …

The Hidden Costs Of Terror, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In this month’s featured article, former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) gives a thoughtful and insightful account of how post-atrocity accounting and reconstruction feels ‘from the top’. What can an incoming head of state possibly do or say that will redress and repair the social and human costs of decades of violence? What about the centuries of injustice and inequality that fueled the flames? In fact Toledo did perhaps as much as he could, and more than many thought he would be able to, in recognising and beginning to address the ethnic, class, and institutional faultlines that tore Peru apart …

Why Should We Care And Be Involved? Interfaith Alliance, Des Moines, Iowa, November 9, 2008, Mary Mccauley

Postville Project Documents

An address given by Mary McCauley about her experience providing support to those directly impacted by the Postville raid.

Where Are The Victims? Perspectives On U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy: Funding & Practice, Johnny Mcgaha

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 1st (2009)

There is a major problem in the domestic sex trafficking of minors and sufficient funds should be reallocated to address this issue.

Barriers between funding for foreign victims and domestic victims need to be removed. A victim is a victim.

The current BJA/OVC/DHH grants should allowed to end until a sound TIP policy developed along with a sound implementation strategy based on real documented assessments with built in external accountability. We should not be leaving this to GAO/IG otherwise the whole movement will lose credibility along with funding.

Will the baby will be thrown out with the bath water unless …

Nineteen Years Of Public Opinion: The Boise State University Annual Public Policy Survey, Gregory Hill, Andy Bourne, Seth Grigg, Stephanie L. Witt

Research and Reports

Evidence suggests that public opinion has a significant and measurable impact on legislative, executive, and citizen interaction. The state of Idaho is no exception. In this white paper, we examine a sample of the opinions of Idahoans, as expressed in the Public Policy Survey, over the past nineteen years.

Ethnosymbolism And The Dismemberment Of The State In The Horn Of Africa: The Ethiopian Case Of Ethnic Federalism, Assefa Mehretu

International Conference on African Development Archives

The paper has three major objectives. The first is to do a critical review of the current largely antagonistic narratives of ethnic instrumentalism in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa that have ultimately led to the balkanization of the state and caused serious political instability and fratricidal conflicts with traumatic and costly consequences in the region. The second is to do a critical review of the policy of the current Ethiopian government to implement ethno-territorial formations under the rubric of killils (Amharic for territorial enclosures), and to demonstrate how this may seriously vitiate national integration along compatible cultural and economic …

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 34-A, No. 11, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletters

On The Cheap: How to Measure Success

Crime of the Month

Concierto en Cuba

Voices From Inside

The Latino Population Of New York City, 2008, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning New York City based Latinos in 2008.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There were over 2.3 million Latinos living in New York City in 2008 an increase of 5% from 2000. Latinos were 28% of the City’s total population in 2008 and accounted for 52% of the population of the Bronx, 27% …

Latino Middle Class Income-Earners In New York City In 2006, Miriam Jiménez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City in 2006 – particularly the income rates of the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: For this study, the middle class refers to those population sectors that fall between $35,000—$59,999 and $ 60,000—$100,000 in annual personal income. Middle-class income earners account for approximately 25.7% of …

A Profile Of Latina Women In New York City, 2007, Laura Limonic

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report provides an in-depth profile of Latinas of various national origins in 2007 New York City.

Methods: Data on Latinas and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There was little difference in the sex breakdown between Latinos and non-Latinos in New York City (48% of all Latinos were women while 47.6% of non-Latinos were women). 37% of Latinas in 2007 were Puerto Rican while Dominican …

Health Insurance Patterns Among Latinos In Comparative Perspective, 2004 — 2007, Rachael Varra

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines the rates at which the four major racial/ethnic groups in the United States — Latinos, non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks and Asians — lacked health insurance from 2004- 2006 in the U.S. overall and in the ten states with the largest Latino populations: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey, Colorado, New Mexico and Georgia.

Methods: The “lack of insurance data” in this report were derived from Health Statistics Data obtained by the Center for Disease Control from 2004 to 2006. In September 2008 these data became available by race, age and ethnicity/race on a …

Stability, Change, And Heritability Of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits From Adolescence To Adulthood: A Longitudinal Twin Study, Marina Bornovalova, Brian M Hicks, William G Iacono, Matt Mcgue

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although personality disorders are best understood in the context of lifetime development, there is a paucity of work examining their longitudinal trajectory. An understanding of the expected course and the genetic and environmental contributions to these disorders is necessary for a detailed understanding of risk processes that lead to their manifestation. The current study examined the longitudinal course and heritability of borderline personality disorder (BPD) over a period of 10 years starting in adolescence (age 14) and ending in adulthood (age 24). In doing so, we built on existing research by using a large community sample of adolescent female twins, …

Incentives And Participation In Development Communication: Evidence From 63 Recent Projects, Emile G. Mcanany

Communication

Economic incentives and the participation of communities can both be powerful drivers of successful innovation and expansion. This article explores a sample of “best cases” applying innovative technologies to solve urgent problems and looks into how the communication of innovative ideas for development could be fostered in order to make solutions available to those who need and might use them.

The Impact Of A Simulation Based Leader Development Training Program On Transformational And Transactional Leadership Behavior, Robin Louise Mccoy Phd

Dissertations

Organizations devote considerable resources developing employees' capacity for leadership because they believe that "leaders" are essential in the operations of their organizations. Unfortunately, organizations do not have the time or resources to send their employees off for lengthy leader development training programs. This has contributed to the growing popularity of short-term training programs which are relatively inexpensive to conduct. However, researchers are increasingly requesting more empirical studies that examine the impact of these programs, yet these requests have remained largely disregarded. Additionally, there is a lack for developing methodologies to determine whether or not involvement in a short-term program facilitates …

Divided At The Margins: A Study Of Young Southern Sudanese Refugee Men In Cairo, Egypt, Natalie I. Forcier

Faculty Journal Articles

This report details a selection of findings on the situation of Southern Sudanese refugee youth at-risk for engaging in violence. Acknowledging that youth violence is not the problem but rather the symptom of underlying social and economic problems, the primary aim of this work was to explore the root causes for young Sudanese men to engage in violence.

Ethnographic data was collected through participant observation from 4 June 2008 to 17 December 2008. Using a series of community entry points, participant observation took place in public or semi-public settings with young men, adult men, young women, and the sisters, mothers …

Belief-Free Equilibria In Games With Incomplete Information: Characterization And Existence, Johannes Hörner, Stefano Lovo, Tristan Tomala

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We characterize belief-free equilibria in infinitely repeated games with incomplete information with N > 2 players and arbitrary information structures. This characterization involves a new type of individual rational constraint linking the lowest equilibrium payoffs across players. The characterization is tight: we define a set of payoffs that contains all the belief-free equilibrium payoffs; conversely, any point in the interior of this set is a belief-free equilibrium payoff vector when players are sufficiently patient. Further, we provide necessary conditions and sufficient conditions on the information structure for this set to be non-empty, both for the case of known-own payoffs, and for …

Nonparametric Tests Of Conditional Treatment Effects, Sokbae Lee, Yoon-Jae Whang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We develop a general class of nonparametric tests for treatment effects conditional on covariates. We consider a wide spectrum of null and alternative hypotheses regarding conditional treatment effects, including (i) the null hypothesis of the conditional stochastic dominance between treatment and control groups; (ii) the null hypothesis that the conditional average treatment effect is positive for each value of covariates; and (iii) the null hypothesis of no distributional (or average) treatment effect conditional on covariates against a one-sided (or two-sided) alternative hypothesis. The test statistics are based on L 1 -type functionals of uniformly consistent nonparametric kernel estimators of conditional …

Technology In Practice. Your Desktop: The Movie, Meredith G. Farkas

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on technologies that enable library staff in the U.S. to produce interactive video instruction including screencast, which is defined as a film that is taken of a desktop of a computer. It recommends screencasting software for library tutorial purposes. It states varied ways on how the Orange County Public Library in Florida uses screencasts for library instruction. The author explains the benefit of screencasting for libraries that are facing difficulty in providing online instruction to people.

On A Markov Game With One-Sided Incomplete Information, Johannes Hörner, Dinah Rosenberg, Eilon Solan, Nicolas Vieille

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We apply the average cost optimality equation to zero-sum Markov games, by considering a simple game with one-sided incomplete information that generalizes an example of Aumann and Maschler (1995). We determine the value and identify the optimal strategies for a range of parameters.

Biased Social Learning, Helios Herrera, Johannes Hörner

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper examines social learning when only one of the two types of decisions is observable. Because agents arrive randomly over time, and only those who invest are observed, later agents face a more complicated inference problem than in the standard model, as the absence of investment might reflect either a choice not to invest, or a lack of arrivals. We show that, as in the standard model, learning is complete if and only if signals are unbounded. If signals are bounded, cascades may occur, and whether they are more or less likely than in the standard model depends on …

Men’S Misperceptions About The Acceptability And Attractiveness Of Aggression, Joseph A. Vandello, Sean Ransom, Vanessa E. Hettinger, Kevin Askew

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Male norms about aggression may be perpetuated in part by the belief that aggression is more expected or socially desirable than it really is. This paper explores the accuracy of people’s beliefs about the acceptability of aggression by examining men’s perceptions of descriptive (what their peers do) and injunctive norms (what their peers approve of or desire). Study 1 found that men (but not women) overestimated the aggressiveness of their peers. Study 2 demonstrated that men (but not women) overestimated peer approval of aggression and disapproval when an affront was not responded to aggressively. Study 3 found that men overestimate …

Analysis Of Multifactor Experimental Designs, Phillip I. Good

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

In the one-factor case, Good and Lunneborg (2006) showed that the permutation test is superior to the analysis of variance. In the multi-factor case, simulations reveal the reverse is true. The analysis of variance is remarkably robust against departures from normality including instances in which data is drawn from mixtures of normal distributions or from Weibull distributions. The traditional permutation test based on all rearrangements of the data labels is not exact and is more powerful that the analysis of variance only for 2xC designs or when there is only a single significant effect. Permutation tests restricted to synchronized permutations …